Sunshine in the Rain

5. Kegger

Later that day, we all hang out at the dock and we see a guy in a stretcher. A dead guy. Apparently his name was Scooter and some dude found him dead in the marsh. He owned a Grady White, the same type of boat that we found.

We go back to the house and start talking about what to do.

"We need to have complete amnesia." Pope says.

"Yeah he's right." JJ says. "Deny deny deny."

"We gotta go incognito." I say, leaning on the door frame next to my brother.

"Guys this is Scooter Grubbs. The same guy who bought individual cigarettes and was begging for gas money. How did he magically end up with stacks of cash and a Grady White?" JB asks.

We all go out to the dock. "Square groupers." I say. "Smuggling or dealing."

"They were straight smuggling." JJ says. He catches a fish.

"It's prolly dangerous then." Kiara says. "Other people are looking for the drugs."

"Let's throw a kegger." I say. "We gotta act normal."

We buy a keg of beer and red solo cups and head out to the boneyard. Where all of the people join in. Pogues, Kooks, and tourists.

I start talking to some random girls and guys. "So, where are you from?" I ask some dude.

"Mi no hablo ingles." He says.

I sigh. I understand Spanish most of the time. This guy just said that he doesn't speak English.

Then I look over and see JJ and JB talking. I walk over to them.

"Hey Ash." JJ says. He leans against a fallen down tree. "Oh this is going to be fun." He says. Sarah and Topper walk over. "Hey Topper, you want one?"

I roll my eyes and walk over to get another beer. But then I hear screaming and I look over and JB and Topper are fighting on the sand. I hear Sarah screaming stop.

"JB, stop it." I say, starting to stay calm.

Then the two head to the water and I get worried so I go to run over to then but I feel some muscular arms wrap around me. "Ash, calm down."

"JJ get off of me!!" I say, trying to get out of his grip.

"I'm gonna drown you like your old man!!" Topper says. Then a fire builds inside of me.

"TOPPER!!! GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY BROTHER!!" I scream. I get one arm out of JJ's grip but he grabs it again. Then he hands me over to Pope and runs over.

Pope has me in his grip. "Pope, let me go."

JJ puts a gun to Toppers head and my brother gets up barely. I get out of Popes grip and run over to JB.

"JB!!! Are you okay?!??!" I ask.

Then I hear gunshots and JJ shoots two in the air. I see JB back in the water so I lift him up so his head is on my lap.

"John B!" Kiara yells.

I hold his head and check if he's still breathing. Luckily he is and I start crying. I hug his passed out body.

JJ walks over to me and hugs me. "Hey, he's gonna be ok." He says.

"D-do you still have the gun?" I ask.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I shot it." He says. "How about we carry JB back to the house?"

"Yeah." I say. "We can do that." I wipe the tears from my eyes and try to fight the tears. I hate seeing my brother in pain. He almost died.

We get back to the house and JJ lays John B on the couch. I look at him again and he has a black eye when I shine the flashlight on his face. I lay on the couch next to him.

"You gonna be okay? I gotta go home." JJ says.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." I say. JJ leaves and I fall asleep on the couch by JB.

In the morning, I wake up before JB and I make sure he's still breathing. I know it's stupid but I get super worried about him. He's breathing.

I get up without waking him and I put on a large t-shirt and my same jean shorts over a different bikini. This one is dark pink and blue.

I walk out to the living room and I see Sheriff Peterkin standing in the doorway. I'm scared of cops most of the time but Sheriff Peterkin is super nice.

"Oh hello Ashlyn." She says.

"Umm hey. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I just came to check up on you." She says. "What happened to your brother?"

"He just got in a fight. He's fine though." I say. "Everyone's fine."

JB wakes up. "What the hell?" He asks. I run over and hug him.

"JB, you scared me." I say. He hugs me back. "Oh hey Sheriff Peterkin." He says.

"Hey. The DCS called and wanted me to check up on you." Peterkin says. "I heard your Uncle Teddy, your guardian, has been out of the state for 3 months."

"Yeah that's false." John B says.

Peterkin basically says that JB and I better watch our steps. Then she tells us to stay out of the marsh and she'll help us out with DCS.